New Love
by LoveEScissorhands
Summary: Who will he choose? When Kim's cousin Claire comes to visit the love triangle of Edward, Kim and Jim soon changes into the love triangle of Claire, Edward and Kim.
1. Claire, Meet Edward

**Hello FanFiction readers! Ok so, first of all: I DO NOT OWN EDWARD SCISSORHANDS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY (JUST CLAIRE*) now that that's out of the way, I think I'll start with this: I think Edward Scissorhands is the best movie EVER made of ALL TIME (that's not a Disney movie of course) I absolutely loved everything about it: the music, the story, the characters, the actors. EVERYTHING. I typically don't like when people add new characters into the mix of this already amazing story because 1. I just can't stand reading that Edward could ever fall for anyone else that is not Kim 2. I feel like when people add characters in this story that it kind of cheapens the story, makes it less, and de-values it. Does that make any sense? BUT recently I got this new idea for an Edward Scissorhands story that I've been anxious to try to write. I hope that I can at least get one person to like this :) (fingers crossed, knock on wood!) **

**p.s. Please notice that I never stated that I am the best writer of all time, so…constructive criticism would help lots and I'm new at this ok, bare with me! :D Let me know what you think!**

Summary:

Claire is Kim's cousin and she is staying with the Boggs for the summer. Claire meets Edward for the first time and the too quickly become friends, within a short time Claire unexpectedly falls deeply in love with Edward. Claire later learns that Edward is very much in love with Kim. This new discovery breaks Claire's heart. Kim is still together with her boyfriend, Jim and doesn't have any romantic feelings towards Edward. Edward is heartbroken at the sight of seeing the girl he loves with another guy and Claire feels miserable because the man she loves doesn't love her. Claire sees how hurt Edward is from unreciprocated feelings. Seeing her beloved in pain she tries to help Edward win Kim over in the hopes that it will bring him happiness. Although this kills her inside she helps Edward because all she wants if for him to be happy even though she knows it will never be with her.

New love

Claire arrived at the airport and started to look around to see if she could spot any familiar face. From a distant she saw that a woman was waving at her and after a brief moment of questioning she realized it was her Aunt Pegg, waiting for her. As soon as they were close enough Pegg wrapped her arms around her niece and gave her a warm and welcoming hug.

"_Oh, Claire! It's so good to see you, dear. My look at how beautiful you are!"_

And in fact she was. Claire, like Kim, was also a very beautiful girl, although she never really believed it. Her hair was dark brown lovely and wavy just a bit shorter than Kim's and it was parted on the left side. She had hazel eyes, rosy cheeks and wore a little bit more eyeliner and mascara than Kim.

"_Hey Aunt Pegg, it's good to see you too, I've missed you all."_

"Oh and we've missed you too! But you know what? We should get going; it'll take a while to get from here to the house. Let's do all the catching up on the way home dear; I don't want to get home too late."

Pegg was glad that the airport wasn't close to where they lived because she wanted to use that time to explain with detail to Claire about the new addition to the Bogg's family, Edward. After all, the story of Edward wasn't something that could be told in a mere 10 minute drive.

"_Wait! You what? Aunt Pegg, this is just so weird! So how long has he been living with you then?"_

"_Almost a year now but there is nothing to be worried about, he may have scissors for hands and might…appear…well different but Edward is very polite and kind and I just know that you too are going to get along just fine."_

Claire missed her Aunt Pegg, Uncle Bill, silly cousin Kevin and most of all Kim who was like a sister to her. She couldn't wait to see them all but now all of a sudden, there was this Edward character in the picture? It wasn't that Claire didn't trust her aunt, but still, she felt iffy about the situation.

When they finally arrived at the house, Claire practically ran to the house and swung the door wide open with great anticipation, yes she was excited to see her family but what interested her a bit more was trying to find the man with scissors for hands. She immediately started looking for the weird figure her aunt described earlier to her in the car but was interrupted when she was startled with a surprising and happy welcome from the family.

And then the time finally came.

"_Claire…,"_ Bill started as he went behind the door that she had just swung open, trying his best to contain his laughter, and pulled out a strange looking man,

"_This is Edward. Edward this is my niece Claire."_

**Ok so just think of this as an introduction type of chapter. Everyone, meet Claire. **


	2. Change of Mind

***I Do Not Own Edward Scissorhands* Ok, new chapter! Not the biggest chapter but needed for Claire to realize Edward is not what she thought he was going to be :) **

Claire simply stared at Edward and although she was trying her best to hide her expression of shock, it was very obvious in her eyes. She felt rude for staring at his weird appearance and at his scissor hands so she quickly changed her expression to normal. And then, she spoke.

"…_Hi."_

Edward looked at Claire and in a very shy, soft voice he greeted her.

"_Hello, it's very nice to meet you."_

And with that short greeting and a hug from her uncle Bill and cousins, they started to make their way to the dining room to celebrate Claire's arrival with a special dinner.

"_Hang on mom, Claire and I will be there in a minute, we're going to put her things in my room."_

Once they were in Kim's room, Kim closed the door and quickly asked Claire the inevitable question.

"_So…What'd you think about Edward?"_ Kim asked in a small chuckle.

"_Oh God, Kim! When your mom told me about him I thought that it would surely be some sort of prank!"_

"_I'm not gonna lie, when I saw Uncle Bill pull him from behind the door, I was so freaked out!"_

"_Didn't mom describe him to you on the way here?"_

"_Well yeah! But I mean until you actually see it you can't really believe someone who looks like that is real!"_

"_You're lucky. At least you got a fair warning. The first time I ever saw him was at night. I came home pretty late from camping with some friends, he was in my bed and when I screamed he wailed his hands around and popped a bunch of holes in my water bed! Now, that was scary!"_

"_I thought he was gonna kill me." Kim said laughing._

"_Don't worry about him though. He's actually really very nice. But we better get back there; I'll tell you more about him later."_

Back in the dining room, everyone was eating and catching up with one another. Edward mostly listened.

When dinner was over, the family talked for a while longer until finally it was time for bed.

Claire slept in Kim's room in a separate bed they put in for her and noticed that Kim was already sleeping. But she couldn't sleep; she was still processing her day.

Claire talked with her family that night but couldn't help to have a lot of her focus on Edward. After a while, he didn't seem so menacing. He was very quiet but when he did speak, she was very pleased at the sound of his voice. It was soft and quiet, gentle and sweet. She liked his voice so much that she realized that whenever he spoke it would, for some reason, make her smile.

After spending time thinking about everything that had happened that day, Claire realized that having Edward there wasn't such a bad thing after all.

"_This is going to be an interesting summer." _She whispered to herself.

And with that last thought, Claire drifted into a deep slumber.


	3. Floating Leaves

***I Do Not Own Edward Scissorhands* Ok so in this chapter we get a feel of what Claire and Jim's relationship is going to be like. Claire and Edward are finally alone together. **

The next morning Claire woke up a bit confused. She opened her eyes and stared at the blank white ceiling pondering for a minute. Was it a dream? Did she really meet a man with scissor hands? It sounded way too much like a fantasy for it to be real. Maybe her wild imagination managed to reach deep into her subconscious mind and send her into a dream where such impossible beings existed and walked among other humans.

As Claire sat up and looked around she realized she was still in Kim's bedroom and what happened yesterday, was no dream. What set Claire's mind at ease was remembering her discovery of Edward and how he wasn't as dreadful as she pictured he would be. She recalled the sound of his sweet, adorable voice in her head and smiled.

Kim was starting to wake up too, and with a short _"morning"_ to her cousin Claire, they both got out of their beds and started getting ready for their day. While Kim and Claire went about with getting dressed, they continued the conversation they started the night before about Edward.

Good thing too, because Claire's curiosity was growing more and more.

"_Well, Aunt Pegg already explained to me how she found him and brought him to live with you guys."_

"_Yeah. Did you see the mansion? Look for it when you get the chance. Down the street you can see the start of a mountain and if you look at the top there is this old, black and abandoned mansion. It's kinda creepy lookin' to tell you the truth."_

"_The inventor used to live there. He created Edward. Edward was almost complete, so the inventor gave him scissors as a substitute for hands. But the inventor died before he got the chance to finish him. So Edward was left up there, incomplete and all alone."_

"_Yeah that's what she told me but how did Aunt Pegg know all this?"_

"_Edward told her."_

"_Kim! He hardly talks. How's he gonna explain a story like that to someone when he never opens his mouth?"_

"_No, no you…you have to get to know him. It was weird at first with me too but once you break the ice he talks to you like any normal person would. And it's not hard to talk to him either because he's a good listener and very nice too."_

Claire stood there thinking about Edward. She couldn't help but feel bad for him.

Kim then laughed and said,

"_Hey! You're MY cousin not his! How come you only care about his story and never asked me once how I was doing?"_

Claire laughed.

"_I'm sorry, Kimmie. Any good gossip?"_

"_Did I tell you about my boyfriend?"_

"_Ah! You have a boyfriend? Since when?"_

"_Yeah! His name is Jim and we've been dating since the end of Junior year."_

"_Yay! Are you in love, Kim? Huh? Huh?" Claire asked excitedly._

"_I guess, well I don't know. I guess I am, what else would be the reason we've been together for so long."_

"_I can't wait for you to finally meet him." _Kim said, trying her best to change the subject.

She just didn't want to answer any more questions about love. Things were going well with Jim and her, she didn't see why there had to be any reason to complicate it with the L bomb.

When they finished, they both went to sit at the table where Pegg was waiting for them with breakfast ready. Kevin joined them a moment later.

"_Good morning my dears. I know you all like pancakes so I decided to whip up some."_

"_Kim, your father already left for work, it's Avon season again so I'll be gone too and won't be back until around the same time your father gets back from work. Kevin is going fishing with Max's family and he will be leaving in a short while too. So it'll just be you, Claire and Edward today. You all behave yourselves while we're gone."_

Kevin looked around and when he realized Edward wasn't around he asked,

"_Hey mom, where is Edward anyway?"_

"_Oh, he went to help the neighbors trim their bushes again. He'll be back soon enough."_

Claire laughed inside and thought to herself, _"Aw, he cuts other people's bushes? Poor guy probably has nothing else to do in life but to cut."_

Claire was a bit nervous to see him again but she didn't tell anybody that. Kim had told her that once things aren't awkward anymore between them he would talk to her like any other normal person would. But what could she possible say to him? How could she start a conversation with Edward?

She didn't know exactly why but Claire really hoped that she and Edward would be able to get along.

The morning went by fairly quickly. Kevin had left for his fishing trip and Edward was still out trimming neighbor's bushes.

Soon it was around 1 in the afternoon, Kim and Claire where hanging around the house when there was a hard and anxious knock on the door.

Before Kim could get up from the couch to answer, a blonde, loud, young man came in.

It was Kim's boyfriend, Jim.

Without taking a glance at Claire he walked right past her and rushed over to Kim.

"_Kimba! Come on, everyone's gonna go hang out at the lake. Let's go!"_

Jim took Kim by the hand and started to rush for the door. Kim managed to use her force and slipped her small hand from his grasp and in disbelief of her boyfriends rudeness spoke to him:

"_Uh? Jim? This is my cousin, Claire." _Kim said trying to introduce her cousin.

But Jim was more interested in getting Kim out of that house. So he slightly turned over to Claire's side and without any eye contact,

"_Yeah. Right. Hi."_

"_What an asshole." _thought Claire.

"_Come on! Don't tell me your not gonna go. I'm not gona be the only loser there without his girlfriend!"_

Claire could tell Kim was embarrassed to see Jim be so rude to her. Although she showed embarrassment, Claire could also tell with the look of Kim's eyes that she really wanted to go. And Kim was too nice to just abandon Claire like that.

"_Let's go, Claire. It'll be fun."_

Kim rushed into her room to get her small bag.

You could see in Jim's face that he cringed at the idea of having a third wheel ruin his fun with Kim. Jim could be very selfish when he wanted to be. So with a wince he turned to Claire and said, _"Yeah I'm sure we could squeeze in one more."_

Claire had gotten Jim's message loud and clear.

When Kim came back she started to head for the door with Jim. Once she felt that Claire wasn't following her she turned to see Claire just standing there.

Jim was starting to get annoyed.

"_I'll wait for you in the car."_

"_Hey, what's wrong? Let's go Claire."_

"_Um, you know what? I think I'm gonna stay. It's ok Kim, we can go out together some other time. I need to call my mom. I promised that I would call her when I got here and I didn't do it last night so I'll do that right now."_

Like hell was she going to waste any of her time being around that obnoxious, sarcastic moron!

"_But I feel bad just leaving you here, I-"_

_(Honk, honk!*)_

"_Don't, really it's ok Kim."_

"_Ok then, I'll see you later then."_

"_Yeah, have fun."_

Claire watched from the window as Kim excitedly hoped into her friend's ugly purple van with red flames on the side. She closed the door and the van drove down the street. Her eyes followed the car, it made a left turn and the van had disappeared. Her eyes continued to wander down the street and slowly started to see how the street lead to the mountain Kim told her about.

Her delicate brown eyes slowly traced the path that lead to the top of the mountain. And she saw it. There was the mansion. It was dark and gloomy; the mansion looked uncared for but had an interesting style to it. Looking at it, it seemed as if it was a whole different world up there than that of the colorful world of suburbia that was beneath it.

Suddenly, Claire's thoughts were interrupted by a sound, that seemed to be coming from outside.

Snip…snip snip snip…snip…

She turned around and was facing the glass backyard door. Outside there were small bits and pieces of green leaves floating all over.

Curious as to what she just saw, Claire slowly made her way towards the sliding door, opened it and when she stepped out in the back yard, she saw him.

She watched intently as Edward was cutting away at one the bushes and saw how he was transforming it into a beautiful figure of an angel. She was shocked and amazed at just how creative Edward was. When she looked around, she noticed that all the neighbor's backyards had bushes with other types of beautiful and fascinating shapes and figures that Edward had made.

Her sight went back to Edward, who still had not noticed she was there. He was still focused on his creation.

Claire wanted to talk to him but had no clue as to why she was nervous. If she now knew there was nothing to fear, why was this so hard to do?

She hesitantly walked in Edward's direction and once she was directly behind him, she tapped his right shoulder with two fingers. Edward turned, and there they were, facing each other.

At first, Claire didn't react. For a brief moment she lost her self in his big dark beautiful eyes. She hadn't been this close to him before and noticed that even though he had scars, Edward was not ugly at all. He was actually quite handsome in his own particular way.

His eyes were mesmerizing; she'd never seen such eyes.

"_Hello, Edward."_

Edward didn't smile, but his look was tender and shy towards her.

"_Hello."_

**Ok so I wanted their first real meeting to be when they were alone. What happens next? Hmm…We'll see! :D**


	4. Breaking the Ice

**I Do Not own Edward Scissorhands* Alright, so I don't want to sound like every typically fanfiction writer but I must say it. I'm sorry for not updating in a while! It's just that well life happens and things have been pretty hectic. I wasn't going to continue this story but to all of those who have reviewed, thank you for that. It made me feel happy and the comments brought a smile to my face. But enough about me! LoL here's chapter 4! I hope you like :)**

They stayed still for a moment, looking at each other, both still not sure of what to say.

It was a nice but hot summer day. Surely Edward could have used a break.

Using the most gentle and kind tone she could find in her voice Claire spoke,

"_It's_ _really hot out here…Would you like to come in? I can pour you something to drink if you want_."

The idea sounded marvelous to Edward. He had been cutting away at bushes all morning and knowing that he couldn't drink something without someone helping him to do so, he graciously accepted.

Edward gave Claire a smile and with a hint of shyness shown in his scarred but endearing face replied,

"_Ok_."

Walking back into the house with Claire, Edward felt a bit awkward being with just her. Since she had arrived at the Bogg's home both only had exchanged a few words, now that they were alone he didn't exactly know what to say. However, he came to the conclusion that she must be a nice person to take the time in offering to serve him something to drink on such a hot day, and very sweetly too.

Claire felt a bit uneasy too, and quickly learned from the short time she'd been around Edward that he was quite the silent fellow. If they were ever going to become more than strangers to each other, she'd have to be the one doing most of the talking for now.

On their way to the kitchen, she quickly started making a list of questions and possible conversation topics to talk about in her head.

"_Let me see…_" Claire thought to herself, "_How personal should my questions be? Should I try to be funny? Would that annoy him? How old is he anyway?"_

As she gathered her thoughts in her head she gave Edward an assuring smile and he simply smiled back politely at her but still a bit shy.

"_Wow, his eyes are…and…Stop it Claire! Focus!" _she snapped to herself in her mind.

Whenever Claire pondered hard about something her eyes wandered from left to right, right to left, making it seem as though she was looking for something she had lost. Then she thought of the question she wanted to ask him ever since she got to the house.

In the kitchen, Claire opened the fridge door,

"_Ok, so soda, apple juice, milk water or lemonade?_"

"_Lemonade?_" his voice was strange.

"_Mm hmm is that what you want?_"

Claire turned to Edward and held back a laugh at the sight of seeing his face all squinted up. It was adorable, but she figured that was a "No."

"_Hmm strange, never seen that reaction to lemonade before…_" she thought.

"_Ok then, so…apple juice?_"

He nodded.

She decided to join Edward, so she got two glasses from the cupboard, filled them half way with ice, poured the apple juice and put a straw on each drink.

"_Thank you,_" Edward said to Claire and with that they sat on the table and began to sip on their cold beverages. It got silent again. After the short pause, Claire spoke,

"_So…can I ask you something?_"

Edward nodded.

"_Remember_ _when I opened the door when I first got here? Why were you behind it?_"

Edward was a little embarrassed when that happened, but he knew it was an accident nonetheless.

"_Kevin asked me to unlock the door for you but before I could open it myself…you swung it._"

"_Oh_" Claire said with a giggle.

"_Gosh, I'm sorry about that Edward. I guess I was just…anxious to see everyone…anxious to see…you._"

Edwards face lit up with curiosity.

"_Me? Why?_"

"_Well Aunt Pegg told me about you on the way over here. I thought she was trying to play a joke on me when she told me a guy with scissor hands was living with her and the family._"

"_Edward, I'm sorry about that_."

"_Sorry about the door?_"

"_No. I mean yes! I mean…yes I am sorry for slamming you behind the door but for what happened after too."_

"_After?_"

"_The way I looked at you. It was rude. I was just shocked ya know? I've never seen anyone that looks…Well the way you do and I wasn't sure to be scared of you or not. And now I see that you are the exact opposite of what I thought you were gonna be like. I just wanted to apologize for judging before getting to know you."_

Claire felt like she was just rambling on and on and making herself look like an idiot in front of Edward but she needed to tell him she was sorry. She didn't want him to think she was just another stuck up, insensitive teenager who judged solemnly on looks.

"…_I'm just bad at meeting new people in general_."

"_It's ok. I am too_."

Finally, something they found in common with each other. And for the first time Edward smiled at _her_. It was the kind of smile that showed he was no longer uncomfortable being with Claire.

This made Claire happy.

"_Good! I guess we're actually starting to be ok with each other_," she thought.

Talking with him would be easier now.

"_Really? So don't you hate it when you meet someone new and you have no idea what to even say to that person?_"

Claire laughed. "_That's the worst!_"

Then Edward smiled, "_Or when you finally do say something but it's something dumb and then you just feel weird_."

Edward never thought he would be sharing the similarity of shyness with anyone. He loved the Boggs like a family (not to mention Kim) but he had never seen them act shy towards anyone. Everyone in the neighborhood knew each other so well he felt he was the only one who was socially inept but hearing that someone else also feels weird with being around different people, it was refreshing being able to talk about it and hearing her experiences as well.

They talked for what seemed to feel like hours. Their conversation wasn't a deep, emotional one but they learned a few things about each other.

Two strangers became friends that day.

By the time the sun was starting to set everybody was back and reunited at the dinner table.

"_So, did you kids have a good time while we were gone?"_ asked Pegg with the same cheerful voice she always had.

"_Oh yeah, Kim, how was the lake?_" said Claire

Pegg turned with a confused and a bit of a disappointed look on her face, to her daughter.

"_Dear, you went out? And didn't invite Claire_?"

"_Well, Jim came over and it wasn't even planned or anything. Claire didn't want to go and besides she didn't stay here alone…she stayed with Edward."_

"_Yeah, it's ok Aunt Pegg I didn't mind. It was nice getting to know Edward."_

It was more than nice to Claire, meeting sweet Edward was wonderful but she couldn't let them know just how happy that made her.

Edward and Claire smiled at each other.

"_I just don't want for Claire to miss out on any fun summer activities she could be having with Kim. You should be going out too._"

"_That's right_," agreed Bill.

"_Next time Kim goes out, so do you missy_."

"_But I agree with you too Claire_," continued Pegg with a smile, "_I'm glad you and Edward got to know each other._"

The rest of dinner, Kevin talked about his fishing trip with Max how he almost fell out of the boat trying to help Max's dad try to reel in a huge fish.

When it was finally time for lights out, Kim and Claire stayed up a while longer in the night to talk about their days.

"_Kim, I already told you, you don't have to apologize. Jim's your boyfriend and I get your gonna want to spend some alone time with him._"

"_Yeah, but still, dad's right. You are definitely coming with me next time. Who knows? Maybe we can get you a summer boyfriend! Eh? Eh?_"

"_Ha! Ha! Kim you are hee-la-rious_!" said Claire in her sarcastic and joking tone of voice.

"_No, but seriously I could!_" Kim was getting excited at the idea.

"_Jim's got lots of guy friends and their not half bad looking. I could set it up if you want_."

Claire knew Kim meant well but that idea sounded disastrous to her.

"_Kimmie, no offense to you or anything but if they are friends of Jim, that same jerk that was in the house earlier today, I want nothing to do with them."_

"_I mean, I'll try to get along with him if we are ever together again but I just didn't like how he treated me."_

"_Oh…I know. I'm sorry Claire. He's not usually like that…he was probably just excited about going to the lake…it won't happen again."_

"_Yeah, next time will be better."_ She didn't believe it but it wasn't something so drastic to stress Kim with.

"_I'm gonna go brush my teeth_."

As she stood there brushing her front teeth, she could feel the strings of her mind tugging away at her and sending her thoughts back to Edward. It was lovely meeting. She couldn't find an exact reason why it had been so lovely but it didn't matter.

She looked up at the mirror and saw the girl looking back at her.

She was smiling.

**Let me know what you thought of their first meeting :) I had fun with it. I will hopefully update sooner than last time. Thanx again for the comments!**


	5. Another World

**Chapter 5 is finished! Firstly, I am sorry it took so long LoL a lot longer than 2 months that's for sure! (Notice how I tried very hard not to write 'fo sho' XD) I'm being annoying I know, anyways I am so glad I got to finish this chapter and I truly hope you all enjoy reading this because honestly I was so shocked to find out this story was actually put on ANYBODY's alert list. Thank you. Happy Reading!**

The morning sunlight glared its soft rays through the bedroom window lighting up the room, creating a new day.

Claire woke and as she laid there on her bed nestled in her sheets, she could hear a faint twittering from a bird not so far from the window. She loved the feeling of waking up in the morning; it was an empowering feeling because she felt she could make of that day whatever she wanted. It was fun not knowing what was going to happen that day, or who she would see. The world was at her feet.

Claire had never really been on any thrilling adventures. She didn't think she was special enough to have any. In her opinion she was just another face in the crowd, nothing special, a normal teenage girl with a lackluster appearance. Plane, Jane. But the notion of waking up each morning made her feel grand for conquering the adventures within her dreams. She conquered her weirdest and most impossible quests there and made it through it all to another day.

As Claire made her way back into reality she started walking towards to door to head for the bathroom. Before she was completely out of the room, something caught her eye.

She walked backwards into the room and peaked out the door, her curious soft brown eyes made their way from the hallway to the living room.

It was Edward.

The house was silent, still too early for anyone else to be awake, and Edward had his back to Claire. He was examining something in front of him. But she couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Then she realized. It was the pictures.

It was adorable to Claire how Edward would just stare and stare at the family pictures. Edward moved slightly, and she could now see his face.

He had the most beautiful expression in his eyes. It was as if he had never seen anything so precious in his life. Oh, how at that moment she wished that one day Edward would look at her the same way.

He had love but strangely a hint of sadness that came across his beautiful face.

"_He must really love the Boggs Family_." She pondered, "_Probably misses the inventor too, the only family he's ever had before the Boggs_. _That must be why he's sad_."

Claire couldn't help but to start feeling a pounding in her chest.

_Thump-Thump, Thump-Thump_

"_Oh man, can he hear that?"_

She felt her heart flutter and even though she knew it was impossible, she still feared Edward would be able to hear the sound of her beating heart, longing for him. It was embarrassing, and Claire felt a bit pathetic.

She couldn't understand it. The feelings she had for Edward came too quick, there's no way somebody could fall for someone else that fast! They had only been friends for a short time but she couldn't help the way she felt around him, her heart raced whenever she would look at his eyes.

She continued to observe Edward, concluding that maybe Edward had been staring at the pictures for quite some time before she had even been awake.

The morning progressed and the whole family started their normal day routines. Pegg would leave after breakfast for Avon, Bill went to work and Kevin would sometimes stay but most of the time he'd go to Max's house.

Sometimes during the week, Kim would leave in the mornings to go to her summer cheerleading practices and returned around noon leaving Claire and Edward alone together.

Claire would never admit it aloud but those were the times she most looked forward too. When it was just her, him and no one else.

One morning, Claire joined Edward outside as he worked on creating a new figure for the bushes in the back yard. She watched intently.

"_Wow Edward, you really are good at what you do."_

"_Thank you."_

"_What makes you think of the shape you want it to be?"_

There was a pause, and then Edward answered

"_My father."_

Claire gave him a confused look.

"_He…would read to me and the shapes I make…are like the ones that were in the stories he read me."_

"_Like?..." _She inquired.

"_Do you see that one over there?_"

Edward pointed towards Helen's yard.

"_The dolphins? Yeah I see them_."

"_I saw those types of animal figures in pictures from a book called '20,000 Leagues __U__nder the Sea'"_

"_And do you see that other one over there?"_

Now he was pointing towards Marge's yard. There were two figures. One of a man and the other a woman holding hands with a heart in the middle connecting them.

"_I got the idea from the story of Romeo and Juliet."_

He explained the inspiration behind all of the creations he made around the neighborhood.

Claire's interest in his work made Edward feel happy. Nobody had ever asked him about his creations before; he was sure nobody cared as to why he made what he made. He was glad he had made a friend like Claire; she made him feel a little more secure. He didn't feel like an outcast or a freak with her, he felt like being the way he is was ok and he was grateful to her for that.

"_Do you miss living in the mansion?"_

"_Sometimes." _Edward's face fell a little.

Claire looked at the direction towards the mansion and once again traced the path up the hill and saw the goth-like mansion up above in the cloudy, sky.

"_I'd like to see it up close…Would you take me there someday? Give me a tour?"_

He looked at her in disbelief of her request, and smiled.

"_Ok."_

When Edward was finished, the two went back inside the house. It wasn't long before Pegg arrived and found them watching T.V. in the living room.

"_Aunt Pegg, What happened? You don't usually come from selling your Avon products until dinner time."_

"_Well dear, today I went to town and a woman requested to see the lipsticks because she wanted to purchase a few! Isn't that great! I made a sale!"_

"_That's great! So, what happened?"_

"_Well…I was about to make a sale, I seemed to have forgotten the case with lipsticks here. I must have forgotten it while I was rushing out this morning. I looked everywhere in my car and all the other cosmetics were there except the lipsticks."_

Edward smiled, he knew how sometimes Pegg would be forgetful of things.

"_Anyways, I just came to quickly grab the case and head on back to town so that she can choose the colors she wants."_

Pegg went to her room, grabbed the lipstick case and made her way back to the living room.

"_Dear? Where's Kim?"_

"_She must still be at cheer practice."_

"_Oh, that Kimberly. She should be here by now, it's not fair that you two have to sit around and be bored all day."_

"_It's alright Aunt Pegg, she must be very busy."_

"_You know what? You two deserve to have some fun too. Claire, I insist you go out with Edward somewhere. Go. Have fun, enjoy yourselves."_

And Pegg gave Claire money for food for her and Edward and headed out the door.

"_What do you say Edward? Wanna go out? Uh… you know go out as in go OUTSIDE, like out of HERE somewhere?"_

"_God, Clair! Can you BE anymore pathetic? What was that?! Just stop talking!"_ She said in her head, she blushed and forced a smile to hide her embarrassment.

Edward didn't understand why all of a sudden she seemed shy and slightly embarrassed; he thought he was the only one who felt like that at times, it was a bit comical and endearing for him to see someone else react the way he does. He laughed the tiniest laugh and simply nodded.

They made their way down the street when at last Claire knew where she wanted to go.

"_Hey Edward, since we have pretty much all day to go anywhere, would you…take me to see the mansion? I would really love to see it_."

Edward smiled innocently as he always did; he wondered why the mansion would interest her so much, because nobody else seemed to care about it. Even though her interest wasn't clear to him, he agreed. Edward offered his friend his arm and the two began to walk down the street, towards his first home.

Claire was so happy at that moment; she was completely lost in her feelings for Edward that she was blindly unaware that Edward's thoughts at that moment were for Kim.

Edward secretly always wanted Kim to be the first person he would take to see the mansion. He loved her before he even met her. The moment he saw her portrait, he fell in instant love and he knew that he would never love another. Kim was more beautiful than what he could comprehend, it was impossible for him to believe that such a beauty would love him back.

"_It's hopeless_." He thought.

What Kim was doing at that moment, he knew not, nor did he know if he ever crossed her mind, all he knew is that his heart belonged to her.

Claire had been so kind to him and they had gotten along so well, how could he deny his friend's request?

Edward smiled at her.

Even though she wasn't Kim, he was still felt good to be with Claire. If he couldn't share his memories with the girl he loved, he was happy he could at least still share them with the girl who was a good friend. The girl who made him feel normal.

They finally made it to the top of the hill. Claire was surprised at how soon they made it up, it looked like it would be quite a long walk from down below. She could see the entire neighborhood and beyond. It was a beautiful view of rainbow colored houses with their whimsical bushes in different shapes and sizes. She was almost certain she could see the ocean far in the distance.

Claire stood there for a minute looking at the world beneath her. A summer's wind blew and her soft brown wavy hair moved gracefully along with it. She had begun to wonder if coming up to the mansion was even a good idea anymore but her thoughts were put to a halt when she realized Edward was now opening a big, black bulky gate that was covered in vines and green plants.

Once it was open enough to walk into, Edward simply stood by the gate waiting for Claire to walk in first just like a gentleman would do.

As soon as the beautiful girl was within the mansion grounds, Claire looked around and was speechless.

Claire realized she just entered another world.

"_I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore."_ She said softly

There was large garden with hedges and bushes, all with different shapes and figures. Even though it was uncared for it was still breathtaking. Claire could see past the cobwebs, past the imperfections and was able to recognize the true beauty of the garden. When she turned to look at Edward she could tell by the look on his face that he felt bad to see the garden so unattended.

"_It's beautiful_."

She offered him a small smile to cheer him up.

He looked at the ground.

"_It was."_

'_Oh, don't feel bad Edward. We can fix it." _Claire assured him as she patted gently on the shoulder.

"_Really?"_

"_Of course. Would you mind if we did it later though? Like when heat isn't so intense. It's really hot right now."_

Edward graciously nodded.

"_Ok_."

Then Claire looked up and finally she saw the mansion up close.

It was astounding.

It had particularly a Goth-like style, a bit on the creepy side for Claire's taste, it was tall with black features and pointy but it too was beautiful in a very unique way. The upstairs windows appeared to be shattered and it too had a couple of cobwebs here and there. The mansion, like the garden, also looked uncared for.

Claire and Edward walked towards the door and they walked in.

"_This is…this was where I lived_."

Although the mansion was enormous, Claire was very surprised at how empty it was on the inside. She expected to see a grand chandelier somewhere in the entrance, fancy drapery that hung on the long windows and beautiful carpeting on the floor with intricate detailing in its design but it was the entire contrary. There really wasn't a lot of furniture, the color inside was the same as it was on the outside, a pale but apparent black. Simple but definitely interesting, and like Edward, beautiful in its own unique way.

The staircases that lead up above caught Claire's attention first.

"_Can we go up?"_

Edward nodded.

Claire was astonished. The view was even more spectacular from Edward's room.

"_Edward! You could probably see the whole world from up here! It's wonderful."_

"_I would spend much of my time here and just think."_

"…_about what?_"

"_Down there."_ And his sight moved to the giant hole in the ceiling that revealed a familiar rainbow suburbia below.

"_I love your house. I think it's great."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah."_

Claire gave Edward a beautifully legitimate smile; it was the kind of smile you give to someone when you wanted to let that person know you think everything about them is amazing. She was glad no one else was around because it would have been obvious to anyone that she was falling for him.

"_Oh Edward, it's huge here. You had all this space to yourself?"_

"_Yes. I wasn't always alone. I lived here with… before… he didn't wake up."_

Edward's face fell once again and Claire hated herself momentarily for asking him a question that brought him back sad memories.

"_You miss him don't you?"_

"_I do. He made me. He was my father."_

"_Oh that's right! He was an inventor. I'm sure he invented many great things."_

She tried her best to lighten up the mood.

"…_Wanna see one?"_

"_An invention? Really?"_

He smiled.

"_Yes!"_

Then they went back down the stairs and walked into a space that was probably meant to be the living room, there she saw a long treadmill of a table with what appeared to be an oven at the end. Giant clock-like wheels behind it and two round machines left to the wheels, objects that now had collected dust and cobwebs. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking at.

Edward turned the on switch and Claire was startled at the sound of the machine turning on.

"_It still works?!_"

She walked closer to the invention and watch closely as eggs were being cracked and dipped into mixing bowls along with milk and other ingredients. Then dough was placed on the table and moved slowly down while different cookie cutters made shapes in the dough. Finally the dough was heated in the oven and out came freshly made cookies.

"_A cookie machine!"_

The inventor truly was a brilliant man.

She turned to Edward's direction and her heart sank.

Claire saw sorrow in his eyes.

He was staring blankly at the machine remembering the day his father died in front of it. Remembering waiting a long time for his father to wake, but never did. And remembering that the next time he ever felt joy again was the first time he laid his beautiful black mesmerizing eyes on Kim's portrait only to discover she would never love him the same.

Then a single tear drop fell from his right eye and Claire watched as it slowly passed every scar and made its way down Edwards pale cheek.

Edward didn't speak.

Claire couldn't take it anymore. She had never felt so guilty and miserable so she walked up to Edward looked him straight in the eyes and wrapped her arms around him.

She couldn't help herself; she just had to do it, she had to show him that she cared, that she didn't want him to ever be unhappy. She didn't think twice about holding him. His scissors weren't a threat to her; she knew he would never hurt anyone and if she'd get cut by accident it would be worth it to be able to hug him.

Edward was confused.

He didn't know why this girl was holding him so warmly but he quickly realized it was just what he needed but he was still unsure if he should do the same. Edward began to awkwardly move his arms and slowly returned the hug, making sure not to hurt is friend.

They stayed like that for a moment and it was then, in that embrace, that Claire realized she was truly in love with Edward.

If there was ever any sort of doubt in her mind about him, that moment confirmed it all.

She fell in love.

She was about to let go but a certain sound prevent her from doing so.

She listened closely…_Thump, Thump…Thump, Thump_. Claire could hear the sound of Edward's heartbeat as she was pressed against his chest.

It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. No music, no melody, no composition could ever sound as lovely and magical like the sound of his heartbeat in her ears.

Claire closed her eyes in complete bliss.

Edward was so grateful to her, he had never been so thankful to have such a dear friend.

"_Edward, I'm sorry_." She whispered.

She let go of him and looked up until her lovely brown eyes met his mysterious black ones.

"_For what?"_ His voice became as soft as hers.

"_It's my fault you're like this. I was the one who wanted to come up here in the first place. If it weren't for me you wouldn't be so sad. I'm sorry Edward, I truly am. I would never want you to-"_

Claire was apologetic rant was cut off and was shocked as Edward pulled her close to him for another hug.

She could have stayed like that forever.

Edward held his friend with much need. It was then he realized he couldn't ask for a better person to befriend because no one else besides the inventor ever cared for his emotions in such a tender way. No one knew of his love for Kim much less of the heartbreak he was enduring and a friend's hug was just what he needed. He shared a bond with Claire and hoped desperately in that moment that one day he would be able to share such a bond with Kim.

"_Thank you Claire_. _I'm lucky to have a friend like you_."

"_I didn't mean to cause you pain. Really if I knew coming here would upset you I would have never suggested coming."_

"_I'm sorry for hugging you without asking first…I just…needed it. I'm better now."_

"_Oh Edward, you never ever need to apologize for hugging me. I will never mind. Everybody needs a hug from time to time it's nothing to be embarrassed about."_

…"_I'll always hug you back."_ She said lovingly.

"_Thank you."_

…"_Could I ever do the same…if I needed it?" _Claire felt like a sheepish little girl but she needed to hear it was ok.

Edward smiled innocently and nodded.

As the day progressed, Claire was shown the entire mansion. Edward took her to see the room where he was created; he showed her the giant kitchen, the library and all the various rooms within the mansion. She was truly amazed at how a home that looked so lifeless was a place where there was more fantasy and imagination than anywhere else she had ever been.

Claire later helped Edward clean the garden up. She removed cobwebs, trash in the grass and dead discolored leaves that were scattered all around. Then she found a hose that was hidden by the side of the house and sprayed water all over the grass, plants and bushes. Edward quickly went to work at trimming the abandoned bushes and hedges. She saw the way he was making the garden come back to life again. Now she could fully appreciate the beauty of it. The bush in the middle was a figure of a hand, and all around there were shapes of different animals like a moose and a snake that looked as if it was slithering under and above the grass. The flowers around these hedges were now visible and added a special touch of life and color to the grass.

Edward stepped back to observe the work that he and Claire had done.

He smiled with much satisfaction and felt better.

Claire was so happy to have spent that day with Edward. If she could she would rewind it entirely and start over again, but she knew the sun would go down on that day as it does every other day and eventually they'd have to return back down.

"_We should go now. It'll be dark soon_."

"_Ok. Thank you."_

"_You're welcome."_

And with that, they headed towards the gate and stepped out. The gate closed behind them, Edward offered Claire his arm and the two made their way back down from one world to another.

**What'd you think? I honestly hope it wasn't too awful, let me know :D Have a good Friday and weekend everybody!**


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